Page 16 of Bad Luck Bride

“No, no, not really.” She gave him a rueful smile as she turned around. “Not unless you know how I might turn two of your smaller banqueting suites into one larger one?”

His brow cleared, as if he’d heard that wish expressed before. “I’m afraid not, my lady.”

“Never mind then,” she said. “There’s nothing I need, thank you.”

Satisfied, he gave a bow and walked past her, crossing the long banqueting room and departing through the open doorway into the corridor beyond.

Kay turned in the opposite direction, intending to retrace her steps out of the Pinafore, but she had barely passed through the doorway leading back into the reception room before another voice, a nauseatingly familiar feminine voice, sounded from the banquet room behind her, and she paused.

“Oh, Mama, look! Won’t this be just perfect?”

Lady Pamela Stirling.

This echoing of her own thoughts by Devlin’s fiancée was more than she could bear just now. Kay resumed walking toward the door, quickening her steps in her desire to get away, but she’d only made it halfway across the reception room before Pamela’s next words brought Kay to a halt.

“I am so glad Devlin was able to reserve it for the wedding.”

Kay turned, frowning. Devlin and Pamela had managed to secure the Pinafore for their wedding, but she would be stuck settling for something not half as nice for her own? Life, she thought in aggravation, was just not fair.

“It will have to do,” another female voice replied in grudging agreement. “It’s pretty enough, I suppose. For a hotel.”

“Now, Mama,” the girl said in a wheedling voice, “you know we can’t have the wedding at home in Durham. The house is leased. Besides, with the wedding set for June, everyone will be here for the season, so it’s much more convenient to marry from here, makinga hotel the best solution. And the Savoy has the biggest banquet room in town, so we can have a proper sit-down dinner.”

“Stand-up breakfasts are more fashionable.”

“They are only fashionable because so many people are pinching their pennies these days.”

“So are we.”

“Maybe so, but I refuse to announce the fact to the world. Besides,” she added as her parent started to interrupt, “Devlin thinks stand-up breakfasts are silly, and so do I. Sipping soup out of cups and nibbling on canapés? No, a banquet here at the Savoy is a much more desirable option. And this room is perfect.”

“It will certainly seat all the guests we wish to invite,” Lady Walston countered, her voice dry. “We can say that much.”

“Mama, you really mustn’t be this way. As I said, a banquet room here is the most sensible course, and I’m so grateful we were able to secure this one. It was quite clever of Devlin, I think, to make the arrangements and secure the room so far in advance.”

The older woman gave a huff in reply, making it clear that she didn’t think much of her future son-in-law or his cleverness.

Kay smiled, taking what was probably an uncharitable amount of pleasure in that thought, and she abandoned any notion of retreat. In fact, wild dogs couldn’t have dragged her away at this point, and she moved to one side of the open doorway, straining to hear more.

“Dear Mama, please don’t frown so disapprovingly. It was clever. Admit it. You know we’d never have acquired a banqueting room of this size for the seventh of June had we waited until now to begin looking for it.”

The seventh of June?

Kay’s momentary amusement vanished, and she stared at the open doorway, aghast, hardly able to believe what she was hearing.Devlinwas the one who’d gotten the Pinafore Room, taking it away from her for his own wedding? Devlin was the reason she and Mama were now scrambling so desperately to find a suitable replacement? But how had he managed it? And why hadn’t Delia told her about it?

Kay had barely asked herself these questions before Pamela’s voice came again, giving her at least some answers.

“Another party wanted the room, I understand, but Devlin easily took care of that. What a fortunate thing that he and Lord Calderon are such good friends.”

“Oh,” Kay breathed, a sound of outrage that was—fortunately—too low for the women in the adjoining room to hear.

So like him, she thought, her hands curling into fists at her sides, to do something like this. His special gift seemed to be that of dashing her hopes and spoiling her dreams, even if in this case it was just a bizarre, awful coincidence.

But was it? Kay tensed, her nails digging into her palms as another appalling thought struck her. Was it a coincidence, or had Devlin done this on purpose?

The latter theory would presuppose he’d known of her engagement two months ago. She had accepted Wilson’s proposal at Christmas, but they had decided not to announce it until after his return to London.

Still, Giles and his family and the handful of her other scattered cousins had all been told once the date had been fixed, and though they’d been sworn to secrecy until the season began, a secret known by more than one person didn’t usually remain a secret. Devlin, shesupposed, could have learned of it somehow, and decided to steal a march on her. But would he really be so low, especially after all this time?

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